UW-Milwaukee targeting local crime

MILWAUKEE, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Chancellor Carlos E. Santiago said school officials and Milwaukee police are meeting to discuss neighborhood crime.

Santiago said in an e-mail that while the UWM campus remains a safe location, a meeting will take place to help improve safety on streets around the urban campus, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

"While the UWM campus remains extraordinarily safe at all hours, it is clear more needs to be done to improve the safety along city streets adjacent to campus," Santiago said Tuesday.

UWM spokesman Tom Luljak said while Milwaukee Police Department statistics indicate a decrease in crime around the campus, school officials are concerned with a recent spate of local crimes, including several robberies.

"In the last few weeks, there's been a spike of incidents here on the east side, and it's that spike that has us concerned," said Luljak.

Police statistics indicate during September and October, overall crime in the UWM area dropped 5.6 percent compared to the same months in 2008, the Journal-Sentinel said.